BlackWatch 2: The Rewrite
by Geckoguy555
Summary: Ash, May, Dawn, and Max. Their destinies are forever intertwined, and not always for the better. Rewrite of my original 'BlackWatch' except this time it actually makes sense.  Advanceshipping. 'T' for safety, like most of my other stories.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, the story's still in the works and I'm not promising a schedule when it comes to the updates. To be honest, you'll be lucky if you see me more than once a month. Now, this follows the basic plot of BlackWatch v.1, but actually makes sense and has a few surprises. Enough of my rambling.**

**This applies to all future installments: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON, ANYTHING RELATED TO POKEMON, OR ANY OF THE FRANCHISEES THAT WILL BE MENTIONED IN THE STORY. I OWN THE PLOT AND MY OC. THAT'S ALL. Although, I'm sure that through some loop-hole I don't even own the plot... *Grumbles***

_If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered._

_ Edgar Allen Poe_

Act I

Memories of Past Lives

I breathed deeply and felt the crisp night air swell in my lungs. The moonlight revealed a dusty dirt road and ominously still grass. Dawn, a blue haired, blue eyed, thirteen-year-old Coordinator shivered and drew her arms across her chest. The lean, tanned, and now silent, nineteen-year-old Brock simply placed his hands in his pockets and continued to walk against the breeze. The electric mouse, Pikachu, that normally rode upon my shoulder now resided inside my backpack, having taken refuge there against the cold, and I almost wished that I could join it, curled up with a blanket around me and not a care in the world. We were walking to Hearthome City and making good time seeing as we couldn't set out from Route 208 before noon, mainly because Dawn had to sleep in. Alright, I overslept too, but only because I was training Pikachu and Turtwig until midnight. Anyway, we had about an hour more of walking to do until we even reached the city limits and I found myself replaying past memories in my head, the day that I became a Trainer and received Pikachu, it didn't like me at all back then, but after I risked my life to protect it I guess that it started to respect me, and from there we became friends. After that I made friends with Misty from Cerulean City and Brock from Pewter City, with the three of them by my side (Pikachu included) I set out to earn all eight of the Badges from the Kanto Gym Leaders. I succeeded and took the part Indigo Conference and placed in the top sixteen.

Afterwards I hung around in the Orange Islands for a while, collected a few badges and moved onto Johto, there I collected the standard eight badges and placed in the Top Eight of the Silver Conference.

I returned home for a vacation and left for Hoenn alone, Brock had to help his parents back in Pewter City and Misty had to stay in Cerulean to help her sisters with the Gym. In Littleroot Town I met May Maple, she was about to receive her first Pokémon and wanted to tag along with me, I let her and soon we met her brother, Max and Brock, who had been able to catch a ferry over to Hoenn. While we were traveling together I noticed that I started to feel very attached to May and was more protective of her, I almost got into a fist fight with her rival, Drew, after he reduced her to tears after losing to him in a Contest. I asked Brock about what I was feeling, he laughed and told me I had a 'crush' on her. I didn't know much about romance at the time and didn't know what he meant by a 'crush.' It wasn't until a few months ago, when we each went our own ways after our adventures in Kanto, May to Johto for her Contests, Max to Petalburg to receive his first Pokémon, Brock to Pewter to help around the Gym, and me to Sinnoh for the Gyms. I remembered vividly when May came to me the night before she boarded her ferry.

_The room in the Pokémon Center was dark, the only light spilled in through the window. The bed, bathed in moonlight offered peace, serenity, and comfort, beside the bed stood a nightstand, on top of which sat a Pokédex, a hat, and half of a ribbon. A backpack was propped against the desk in the corner of the room, inside was the average badge case, change of clothes, and toothbrush. The door opened softly and a girl, about thirteen padded across the soft carpet and to the bed. _

"_Ash?" She asked quietly, almost nervously._

"_May? What's wrong?" The boy lying on the soft bed beneath the warm covers asked sleepily._

"_I've…I've wanted to tell you something for a while now, I… I would give up Contests to stay with you." May began to stumble over her words now, "Don't get me wrong, I love Contests and all, but they don't mean as much to me if you're not there to cheer me on. I wish I could still travel with you but I don't-know-what-to-do-and-I'm-scared-of-being-alone." May hadn't meant to add the last part in, but once she started she couldn't keep the words from tumbling out as her eyes became misty and her breathing became irregular._

'_May, don't worry, you'll be fine over in Johto, I'll go with if you want, Sinnoh isn't going anywhere.' Is what Ash should have said, but he was tired and anxious about the day to come and instead said, "May, you'll be fine, I felt the same way when I was about to go on my first journey, you just have a bad case of nerves, that's all. Don't worry, you'll knock 'em dead over in Johto, I know you will."_

_May nodded and tried to compose herself, she thanked him and left the room, allowing the boy to explore the darkness that pooled around his eyes and the slightly fuzzy feeling in the back of his head as he fell headfirst into dreamland._

I berated myself constantly from that night onward, which was for the better part of a year, I didn't know how or why, but I felt that something I had said had pushed May away, made her think that I didn't care. Of course this was completely untrue; I cared for May more than I cared for life itself. I had proven this more than once, when May fell into the fissure in the Valley of Steel, when May got stuck in the Forbidden Forrest, and in Samiya when I closed the door on the mini-sub and went to help Manaphy rescue the underwater 'castle.' If I ever saw May again I'd tell her that I missed her, I'd tell her about how I felt like I was missing a part of myself after we'd parted. I'd tell her that I felt almost unbearably happy around her, I'd tell her that-

"Ash!"

I snapped out of my thoughts just in time to see the sign that leapt out of nowhere just to make contact with my face. The impact startled me and more stunned than hurt, I fell on my back. It was only while I was falling that I realized that Pikachu was still _inside _my backpack_._ A split second later I was on my back, and for a beat nothing happened. Then I heard the sound of what was almost certainly scarier than Death itself.

"Chu…PIKACHU!" I felt every inch of my skin burn with the intensity of a thousand suns and suddenly go numb, my mind went blank, as if someone had taken a swipe at it with steel wool, my tongue felt like I had licked a shag carpet, and I was faintly aware of the smell of burning flesh and singed fabric. Somehow I had the presence of mind to roll over onto my stomach. Wait, I didn't roll, I was rolled by Brock and Dawn.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked worriedly as my senses slowly began to return.

"Been better…" I groaned.

"You'd think that a fifteen-year-old Pokémon Trainer that wanted to be a Pokémon Master would be a bit more observant." Dawn joked.

If I had been on my own two feet I would've glared at her and made a remark about her hair, but it's hard to act condescending while you're sprawled out on the ground twitching.

"Can you two try not to fight until we can get to the Pokémon Center?" Brock asked tiredly.

"Well Ash, while you were inspecting that sign so 'thoroughly' did you happen to read what it said?" Dawn asked in such a tone that I didn't even have to see her face to know that she was smirking.

"Enlighten me…" I muttered as I started to examine the dirt that I was so close to. Interesting pattern, almost looked like the face of a Smeargle.

"We just entered Hearthrome's City limit, we'll be able to stay at the Pokémon Center in about an hour. If you get up off the ground that is." Brock said as he helped me onto my feet so I no longer had to stare at the dirt-Smeargle.

As we started to walk again I allowed my mind to wander and before I realized what was happening we were approaching the Pokémon Center and being bathed in neon lights. Despite the late hour an unusually high amount of people were out enjoying the city and it's many stores and the occasional club. Maybe it was just that Hearthrome was the most populated city in Sinnoh but I wasn't used to seeing so many people out in the middle of the night, a check of Dawn's Pokétch showed that the time was 24:31 and that most people should be in bed fast asleep.

People chattered happily and casually as we walked by, a few even recognized Dawn and jogged over asking for autographs. Brock's swooning for three different girls and Dawn signing shirts, paper, and one kid's hat stretched what should've been a ten minute walk into a twenty minute one, when we finally stumbled through the doors of the Pokémon Center Dawn sat on one of the benches while Brock booked us a room and tried to flirt with Nurse Joy.

I walked over to a small table where a group of teenagers were playing a card game, one boy with impossibly spikey hair sat across from a brunette girl.

"What's the brown furball thing?" I asked one of the onlookers, a blonde guy wearing a blue jacket and jeans, and gestured to a card that the boy was holding.

"Hey, don't tell her what cards are in my hand!" The boy said, obviously annoyed.

I took the hint that it was probably a good idea to back off; card games are serious business with some people.

"Hey guys, I got the rooms." Brock called over to Dawn and I. Together we walked down the hallway and went into our rooms, Dawn into her own, Brock and I into the one that we would share.

The room was decorated in the same style as every other room that you could rent at any other Pokémon Center; one window, two mattresses, a small study desk, three lamps and the two overhead lights, plush blue carpeting, a warm crème color for the walls, and two nightstands, each with a complimentary bottle of water. On the far end of the room sat a comfortable looking chair next to an end-table with copies of _Contests Daily_, _PokéNews_ and, _Card Games Today_ all stacked on atop the other.

I tiredly slipped out of my vest and shoes and _very_ gently lowered my backpack to the ground and unzipped it partially so that Pikachu could get out if it wanted. After placing my hat on the nightstand I gently lowered myself onto the soft foam mattress and closed my eyes.

"I'm setting the clock for 09:00 that okay with you?" Brock asked from across the room.

"That works." I replied as I rolled onto my side and pulled the covers a bit higher.

I heard the light click off and Brock ease himself onto his bed.

"Goodnight." I said into the darkness.

"Goodnight." Brock replied.

And with that I felt my eyes droop, my mind fade into oblivion, and my breathing grow shallow.

_A girl with long brown hair, a green bandana, and an orange blouse sat beside a boy with green hair and a purple jacket at a small table. Both of them had their individual meals, a bowl of noodles with fresh steamed-fish mixed in sat in front of the girl, while the boy had a burger and French fries. The girl playfully snatched a couple fries from the boy's plate._

"_Aren't you going to ask, May?" The boy asked with a small sigh._

"_Are you going to stop me, Drew?" The girl, May, replied as she giggled._

"_No, I don't think I will." _

"_Then I don't see a reason why I should stop." May replied lightheartedly as she snatched another fry from his plate for emphasis._

"_How many Ribbons do you have now?" Drew asked as May took a sip of her beverage, a dark fizzy liquid._

"_Three so far, I should be able to get into the Wallace Cup, if all goes well." May replied once she swallowed her drink._

"_That's great; as long as you keep your Pokémon well trained you should breeze right through."_

"_Aw… don't give me all the credit, I would never have gotten this far without your help. And I wouldn't even __**be**__ here if it weren't for Ash."_

"_I'm glad you ditched him, he was hurting you more than helping." Drew said offhandedly._

"_No he wasn't! He's the reason I even became a Coordinator, don't insult him!" May retorted angrily._

"_All I'm saying is that you were influenced by him too much, that did a lot of damage to your style in the Contests." Drew said in a calming tone._

"_First you insult my mentor and now you're talking down to me?" May asked, the hurt in her voice obvious. _

"_May, I'm not talking down to you, you're being a bit touchy right now, how much sleep did you get last night? Are you on your period?" Drew asked gently as he placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, unaware that with every word he was hurting her more._

"_I got plenty of sleep and no I'm not on my period. I haven't even __**had**__ my first period yet." May replied, slightly offended by the question._

"_Look, I'm just trying to help, I can't know what's wrong if you don't tell me." Drew said as he tried to calm down his girl- no, they __**weren't**__ a couple, they liked each other a lot, but, it was…complicated. Either way his patience was beginning to wear thin and people around them in the restaurant were starting to stare._

"_Why do you care so much, it's not like you love me!" May said as tears began to roll down her cheeks. _

_Drew flinched visibly at this, recoiling slightly as if he'd been slapped. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, neither looking the other in the eyes but both longing to catch the other staring. _

"_Maybe we should take a break for now." Drew said quietly, almost emotionlessly, as he stood from the table and tossed his Trainer ID down on the table to pay for the meal._

"_Maybe we should." May said just as apathetically as her rival had._

_The boy and the girl walked out of the restaurant together, but not with the lightheartedness, and nervous feelings that they had entered with. _

I awoke with a start as I felt a hand press itself flat against my shoulder. Opening my eyes as I grabbed the hand by the wrist I saw that Brock was bent over me, trying to wake me up.

"C'mon man, it's time to get moving." Brock said as he shook me.

"I'm up…" I groaned as I opened my eyes, the light that streamed in through the open window and the sounds of the typical city hustle and bustle filled the room.

I gingerly rolled out of bed and stood, my legs burned from walking so long on uneven terrain, my shoulders ached from the straps of my backpack cutting into them for hours on end, a nice bruise had formed above my left eye, and my knees felt like they'd buckle at anytime.

"You okay?" Brock asked as I wobbled a little.

"Yeah, I need a shower." I replied as I walked across the carpeted floor to the small bathroom that came with the room.

I closed the door and stepped into the small shower cubicle and turned set the water as hot as I could stand it, it poured onto my shoulders and back, relaxing the muscles in my back and neck. I just stood in the shower for close to ten minutes, staring at the tiled walls and the floor the anti-slip floor thinking about the dream that I had, did it mean that I missed May more than I knew, or had the event actually happened? I didn't know a lot about romance, but it was obvious that there was _something_ going on between May and Drew, and what was a 'period?' Something to ask Dawn about… I suddenly realized that I was ridiculously hungry and stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and dressed in clean clothes in hopes of getting some breakfast before having to get moving for the day.

Dawn was sitting on my bed with a plate of eggs, pancakes, and toast, across from her sat Brock, who was eating a bowl of cereal. I looked around and saw a tray with a plate full of pancakes and a small berry salad.

"What do we have to do today?" I asked as I sat down.

"I need to register for the Contest and Fantina already left for that Silver Conference or whatever." Dawn replied before she speared part of a pancake with a fork.

"Looks like we'll be staying here for a week or so then, when do we get set for your Contest?" I asked.

"Well I need to get my hair done so I can dress up, I need to give Piplup and Pachirisu baths, and I should probably go shopping for a few accessories for both of them, then seeing as the Appeals are tomorrow I'll have to practice." Dawn ticked off on her fingers.

"I need to get more supplies for us," Brock began, "and I think that you two should go together, you're safer that way." Brock advised as I groaned.

"But Brock… she wants to go _shopping_." I whined.

"You'll survive." Brock replied as he stood and moved towards the door.

Dawn and I finished our breakfast in silence and together we walked into the lobby, past the group of people playing card games, this time it was a stoic brown haired boy playing against a blonde haired guy with an accent that I had never heard before, and onto the street.

Together Dawn and I walked to the closet hair salon, where Dawn was told that they could fit her in in an hour and a half.

"Will that be okay for you?" The receptionist asked with a smile as she handed Dawn a pager.

"Oh, it's perfect! I need a bit of time to get some accessories for my Pokémon, and I don't want to do that right after I get my hair done." Dawn replied happily as she took the electronic and hooked it to her backpack strap.

"You're participating in the Contest?" The receptionist asked in surprise.

"Yup!" Dawn answered with a grin.

"I've heard that there are going to be some top-tier Coordinators there, you'd better bring you're A-game." The girl advised politely.

"Even if I don't win this one I should be able to get the next Ribbon easily enough." Dawn laughed.

"Well you certainly don't lack confidence, that's good! Anyway, don't let me keep you, go get your accessories girl!" The receptionist giggled.

"Oh, you're right; we'll be back in an hour and a half." Dawn replied as she dragged me out the door and onto the street.

Dawn and I walked down four streets before she finally decided that a shop met her standards and together we walked in.

"Hey Dawn," I began as I remembered my question from earlier, "what's a 'period?'" I asked.

Dawn froze for three seconds flat as she started to blush.

"Th-the thing that goes at the end of a sentence." She finally stammered.

That didn't make sense, why would Drew ask May if she was on her 'period' if it was just part of a sentence? And why would Dawn get so embarrassed about it if it was something so innocent?

"But why would a guy ask a girl if she was on her period then? It doesn't make sense." I pressed.

"Ash, where'd you hear about periods?" Dawn asked as her blush spread to her neck.

"I had this dream where-" I started before Dawn cut in with, "I don't want to hear about your perverted dreams!" and clamped her hands over her ears.

"What? I just-"

"Shut up, Ash!" Dawn cried as she clapped a hand over my mouth.

I decided that if Dawn was so adamant about me not knowing then I could easily ask Brock or someone else later, so I let the issue drop.

For the next hour I leaned against a wall as Dawn hurried around the store, which was set up with tall shelves lining the walls while smaller cases were placed around the floor space in the shape of a rectangle.

For the most part I daydreamed about what battle strategies I could use when Fantina would get back, her Pokémon would definitely be stronger from the Silver Conference, but they'd also be tired out, which would make them much easier to defeat. I'd heard that she had a Drifblim, that'd be the hardest one to take down because of that psychic thing it does; if you knock it out with a physical attack, your Pokémon would take the excess damage. Pikachu's Volt Tackle was always an option because of how little damage electricity would do to him, but then there was still the physical trauma… Defeating Fantina would be no easy task… Maybe if I had Turtwi-

"Ash!" I heard my name and whipped my head up, slamming it into the wall by extension.

"What do you need, Dawn?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my head.

This proved to be a big mistake as I accidently touched the large bruise from falling last night, and while yanking my hand away, slapped the fresh one that was already starting to blossom. Color exploded behind my eyes and I was almost driven to my knees from the pain.

**As I said at the top, I don't plan on updating regularly so I'd advise subscribing. If you want to Review then please let me know what about the story you like, hate, are annoyed by, or want to 'borrow' for your own purposes.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked for around the third time as we walked towards the salon from earlier.

"Yes Dawn, I'm fine." I said dryly as the back of my skull seemed to throb.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." I replied.

We walked in silence after that, Dawn probably thinking about her Contest strategies while I tried to formulate a plan for taking down Fantina's Drifblim. Maybe I could substitute Buizel for Pikachu at the last minute and have Pikachu use Thunderbolt? It might work if I could get Buizel to soak Drifblim with a Water Gun, seeing as water conducts electricity and Drifblim wouldn't be able to ground itself on anything…

Speaking of Pikachu, I wondered what the little devil-rat was doing back at the Pokémon Center. It'd probably snatched a couple bottles of ketchup from one of the lunch carts after we left and more likely than not was currently passed out on my bed with a half-empty ketchup bottle in its paws.

Dawn and I continued to wade our way through the crowd of people on the street and eventually walked into the shop, 'Suzie's Superb Hairdressery,' and looking at a photo of the founder, discovered that it was the same girl who I had met back in Kanto, all those years ago.

As Dawn continued to walk right past the front desk by merely showing her pager and saying, 'I've got an appointment.' I looked at the receptionist, Samantha, according to the nametag she wore.

She was young, about eighteen or nineteen, had blonde hair that rested on her shoulders and wore a necklace with a small blue gem and a black chain.

"Suzie Yuki started this place up?" I asked casually.

"Yup," The blonde confirmed, "She started up in Kanto a couple years ago, originally it was a Pokémon-only salon, but she realized that people like to look nice too."

"Good for her, she was really nice to me and my friends a few years ago."

"You met her before she started this place up?" Samantha asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah, like I said, she was really nice; she even gave my friend, Brock her Vulpix." I said.

"Brock? The same Brock that she was always talking about back in Hoenn?" She asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, Brock Harrison." I replied.

"Dude! Suzie's had a crush on him for like… ever!" Samantha laughed, dropping the business-speak.

I couldn't believe it, Brock Harrison, the guy who fell in love with every other girl he saw might actually have a chance at a relationship.

"What about that other guy, what was his name… Zay? Zan?" I asked.

"Zane. And he settled down with another girl, they met in… Lilycove City, I think. Suzie was pretty torn up about it; she thought he was, ya know, the 'one.'" Samantha confided, placing air-quotes around the last word.

"Wow, I thought that they'd get together for sure." I said, remembering the way Suzie had talked about Zane.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, are you still in contact with Brock?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Here," She said as she scrawled something down on a piece of paper, "Next chance you get, give this to him and tell him to give Suzie a call." The blonde said as she handed me the paper.

"Alright," I replied, pocketing the paper, "I'm Ash, by the way."

"Samantha." She replied with a smile as she held her hand out.

We shook hands and after promising her that I'd pass along Suzie's number, I sat in one of the padded chairs. The waiting room was nearly empty, the only other person was a boy, about sixteen or seventeen, wearing dark green cargo pants and a faded grey shirt. He had his head tilted back and his dark-brown hair hung limply. The guy was asleep, his hands folded together and resting on his lap as he stretched his legs out.

The waiting-room was decorated nicely, not overwhelmingly fancy, but nowhere near bland. There were three tables, each with a vase of fresh flowers, and four chairs around them. The ceiling lights were powerful but not harsh and complemented the 'cheery' tone of the room nicely. The walls were painted in faded yellow with white baseboards and crème colored crown molding.

I leaned back in one of the chairs and let my mind wander, first thinking about all the Pokémon I had safe and sound at Professor Oak's ranch. I wondered if the poor old man had ever gotten used to my over-affectionate Muk, or the friendly rivalry between my Charizard, who had recently returned from Johto, and my Sceptile.

Eventually my thoughts drifted to Max Maple, I wondered how he was doing on his journey, there _had_ been some pretty brutal weather recently, and I had made an effort to keep in contact with Max throughout that period. Last I had heard from him he was about to head out to Sootopolis City from Mossdeep. I sincerely hoped that Max was doing okay; the last time I'd seen him he looked much more rugged than he had when we had traveled together. From what I saw, the boy had ditched his glasses, favoring contacts, and had grown his hair out slightly, his bangs hanging over his forehead and grazing his shoulders in the back. His outfit had changed as well, instead of a lime-green shirt with a white collar; he now wore a dark green t-shirt with a black hem, and had swapped his khaki shorts for jeans, and around his wrist he wore a familiar red bandana.

As I thought about the bandana, May immediately jumped to mind. I worried about her often, and it wasn't un-common for me to fall asleep wishing I could hear the sound of her voice. The last time I saw her was when she was sailing off to Johto, from what I heard she did well over there, and even if she didn't, I'd still be proud of her. From what I had heard on the news, May had even managed to get her Bulbasaur to evolve into an Ivysaur, which was no easy feat.

Thinking about Ivysaur led my mind back to the time when Misty, Brock, and I had all stumbled into the Great Mysterious Garden, which was home to hundreds, if not thousands of Bulbasaurs and Ivysaurs. I wondered if the old Venusaur was still the 'leader' of that particular herd, if so, I wished the old Pokémon well.

"Hey Ash," Dawn called as she stepped into the waiting room, "My hair's done, so-"

"'Ash?'" A familiar brunette interrupted as she walked through the front door, "As in, 'Ash Ketchum?'"

"Yeah, and it's very rude to interrupt a private conver-…sation… " Dawn trailed off as the brunette squealed and threw her arms around my neck in a flying hug-tackle.

"Ash, it's been so long! I had no idea you were still in Sinnoh!" The girl said jubilantly, and with a start I recognized her.

"May!"

"No, June..." May replied playfully.

In my defense, she had completely changed her attire. She now wore a green bandana on her head, and had an orange blouse and black biker shorts. Alright, maybe not _completely_ but enough to cause some confusion.

"And you must be Dawn!" May said excitedly as she rolled off of me and extended a hand to my other friend.

"Th- the Princess of Hoenn?" Dawn stuttered as her eyes widened in amazement.

"Oh, I wouldn't go _that_ far, I'm just relatively skilled at coordinating," May said with a dismissive wave of the hand, "your hair looks great by the way!"

At this point, Dawn practically melted, as she squeaked out a 'thanks!'

As much as I could empathize with Dawn meeting her idol, I could tell we were causing a scene as the receptionist, Samantha, perked her head up and looked in our direction, and the guy who had been sleeping a few minutes before slowly walked past.

"Hey," I interjected between Dawn gushing praise and May sheepishly brushing off most of it, "maybe we should catch up at the Pokémon Center? Are you staying for a while May?"

"Yeah, I'm sticking around for the Contest." May replied as she walked towards Samantha's desk.

"_You're_ competing? Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, ohmygosh!" Dawn squealed.  
I swear if May excited her any more Dawn would start dancing in happiness.

Dawn and I both stood near the door, and May walked back a few minutes later with a Pokéball in her hand.

"I just had to pick up one of my Pokémon," May explained as she replaced the Pokéball to her belt, "I plan on using this one in the Contest."

"Oooh, which Pokémon is it?" Dawn cooed, still in total fangirl mode.

"I'll show ya later," May said with a smile, "Ash, is Brock still traveling with you?"

"Yeah, he's out picking up groceries right now though." I replied as I pushed open the glass door and held it for both May and Dawn.

"Who taught you how to be a gentleman?" May asked joked as she walked past.

The walk back to the Pokémon Center went relatively quickly, with Dawn asking advice on Coordinating and fashion, while I asked the occasional question on what had happened in the year and a half that we hadn't seen each other.

"What happened to Drew? Is he still in Johto?" I asked as we walked past an electronics store.

"I dunno. We sort of stopped traveling together a while ago." May replied.

A few seconds of silence followed, in which Dawn shot me a look that I couldn't interpret.

"What room are you in at the Pokémon Center?" Dawn asked as we rounded the corner.

"Six."

"Well I'm in eight, and Ash and Brock are right across the hall in nine, we should definitely hang out some more tomorrow."

"Yeah." May replied.

"You okay?" I asked as the door to the Pokémon Center slid open.

"Uh-huh. I'll come over later; I need to figure out what I'm going to wear for the Contest." May said dully.

Dawn and I watched as the brunette trudged down the carpeted hall, opened the door to her room and disappeared.

And all of a sudden a fist collided with my arm.

"Why would you ask her about Drew?" Dawn asked angrily as she pulled her arm back.

Stop for a moment; all I had done was ask May what had happened to one of her traveling companions! How did that make me responsible for May's sudden mood-swing? And was the punch really necessary? I mean, it didn't hurt but still.

I looked over at Dawn who was standing there, arms crossed and a glare on her face.

"What do you mean, 'why would I ask her about Drew,' I was curious!" I said angrily.

"You _never_ ask a girl what happened to friend!" Dawn spat.

"And why not?"

"Because everyone has a reason for leaving someone behind! Sometimes those reasons hurt to bring up!" Dawn retorted.

"Well they shouldn't!"

"Oh yeah? Hey Ash, where's Pidgeot?" Dawn asked venomously.

Instantly I felt my heart tighten and my throat clench. Memories of Pidgeot throwing itself at all of the opponents and risking extreme bodily harm, just because I told it to flooded through my mind, each of them tearing open wounds that I thought had long-since healed. I remembered releasing it so that it could protect that flock of Pidgey. I had promised it that I'd come back for it and never did.

The thought of Pidgeot returning to that spot in Pallet Town expecting to see me, only to find no-one there tugged at my heartstrings and I felt tears well up in my eyes. What kind of a Trainer was I? I couldn't even keep a promise to one of my most loyal Pokémon!

I glanced up at Dawn and saw her expression soften as she took a step towards me.

"That… I'm sorry Ash, that was wrong of me." Dawn said softly.

"Yeah, it was." I said and walked to the video phone in the corner of the lobby.

"I'll see you later," Dawn said awkwardly, "thanks for dealing with me all day."

"Uh-huh." I grunted as I dialed Professor Oak's number.

Dawn walked down the hall and I focused my attention on the video-screen.

"Why, hello Ash! It's been some time since we last spoke," The professor said, a wide grin breaking across his face when he picked up the phone, "oh one moment please!" Oak said with a grimace as he moved to the left, out of range of the camera.

From off-screen I heard, "Oh for Heaven's sake!" The professor re-appeared a few seconds later, his hair messy.

"You'll be glad to know that despite your lack of physical presence Muk is still very much attached to you." Oak said in an annoyed tone.

"That's good, but I called to ask you about Pidgeot. Has it come back to Pallet?"

The professor was quiet for a second, before replying with, "Yes, it did."

My heart soared and I quickly asked to talk to it.

"That's the thing, Ash," Oak said slowly and my heart plunged into my gut, "Pidgeot flew off a month or so ago, it had returned to that hill where you released it every day when it got back. Ash, I think that it gave up on waiting for you."

I stood in silence for a few seconds after that. My most loyal Pokémon, one of the ones that had been there for me at the start of my journey had given up on me. I had failed it.

"Thank you, Professor." I said, reaching for the END button.

"I'm so-" The screen flickered out before Oak could complete his sentence.

I walked towards the room that Brock and I shared feeling hollow. Looking around, Pikachu was nowhere to be found. As soon as I closed the door the floodgates broke and I collapsed onto my bed crying.

Pidgeot couldn't have been the last. How many other promises did I break? Did all of them come back to where we had last seen each other expecting me to be there and fulfill my promise, only to be met with nothing? Dear lord, how many of them thought that it was their own fault?

I sobbed into a pillow, not just out of the hurt that I was feeling, but because of the pain that I had undoubtedly caused some of my best friends. I cried until I ran out of tears, then I cried some more.

**Firstly, I'd like to thank you for reading this. Every hit that I get means a lot to me. I enjoy knowing that others enjoy my work, and I hope that I can improve as time goes on. **

**Secondly, I realize that it's been quite some time since I updated this. All I can say is that my personal life suddenly got very complicated very quickly. Yes this is a short chapter. The next one will be longer, and hopefully up relatively soon, but I'm not making any promises.**

**Like A Boss2, consider this your 'welcome back' present. Congrats on the Air Force man. **

**Lastly, if anyone can notices typos or grammar mistakes, please point them out. I want this story to be as well-written as possible. **


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes to the sunlight that bled through the half-shut blinds. According to the clock on the nightstand it was five thirty-five in the afternoon. I had slipped into a dreamless sleep for at least an hour and a half. My back and shoulders ached from being curled up with a pillow clutched to my chest for so long and my eyes stung. My tears had dried on the pillow leaving stains in their wake.

"Pika," the yellow mouse cooed.

It was concerned.

"Don't worry, Pikachu. I'm fine," I said not even believing myself.

Pikachu just stared at me, as if to say 'Yeah, right.'

I didn't deserve the concern; I had broken one of the most basic rules of being a Pokémon Trainer: never lose your Pokémon's trust. Why should anyone be concerned for me? I made promises I never kept. I hurt people and Pokémon who cared for and trusted me just to chase my dream. How many others had waited on me to return? How many thought that they had done something wrong or that I didn't want them?

And I had the gall to call myself a teacher? What could I possibly teach anyone about being a Trainer or Coordinator when I didn't even know that I'd been neglecting my own Pokémon until someone threw it in my face?

I didn't deserve pity or concern from anyone, and I defiantly didn't deserve it from Pikachu. I'd rather have it be angry with me or resent me, at least it'd be justified, but the fact that it still cared about me and my wellbeing was just another stab to the heart.

"Chu." The concerned look on Pikachu's face only grew deeper.

Pikachu was hurting. It hurt because it knew I was hurting, and it didn't know what it could do to help. And I hated myself for that; it shouldn't feel bad for someone who couldn't even keep a promise to one of his best friends.

"Really, I'm fine. Let's go see what May and Dawn and Brock are up to," I forced cheer into my voice.

Pikachu looked at me for a few seconds longer before deciding not to press the issue; it took its usual perch on my shoulder and sat quietly. Together we walked out the door and into the lobby of the Center.

"Hey, Ash," Dawn called me over to a table.

"Look, I was wrong to say what I said," she started as we sat down, "and I have no room to talk as far as broken promises and poor decisions go. I was trying to get you to see that everyone has done or had something done to them that they don't like to talk about. Did you see May's face when you asked her about Drew?"

I thought back to earlier that day, had been looking at me when I asked the question and her eyes had darted to the side when I mentioned Drew's name. She had been beaming a moment before, but then something in her smile was lost, it seemed to grow dull. Forced. Why hadn't I noticed that right away? I knew I was horrible at reading body language, but was I _that_ bad?

"At the time; no, but looking back on it; yeah. She looked upset." Chalk up another friend that Ash Ketchum hurt though his own stupidity. What's the score at now?

"Everyone has a past, Ash. Drew's not safe territory with May right now, when she wants to talk about him, she will. What about you? I could tell you took what I said about Pidgeot hard, and you look like you're still upset."

I looked around the room, more to avoid eye-contact with Dawn than out of curiosity. A kid was pacing around nervously, two girls were taking inventory before they headed back out on the road, and a group of guys sat and watched some program on TV about six creatures that looked like Ponyta, minus the flaming mane. Two of them lacked horns and another two seemed to have wings rather than horns. The pink horn-less Ponyta was in the middle of an impromptu song and dance while her friends looked annoyed.

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Clearly you're not, you look like you lost a fight with an Ursaring," Dawn countered.

"I had a bad dream. Tossed and turned a little."

"I checked on you. You were curled up the entire time, didn't move for two hours. If you're gonna lie to me at least make it good, now seriously, how're you feeling?"

Where to begin? I was angry at myself for upsetting May, I was upset because May was upset about something that I couldn't help her with, I was upset with myself even more because I had hurt another close friend because I couldn't look outside myself, I was upset with Brock for not having set me straight back in Kanto, I was upset with May and Dawn for treating me like a teacher when I clearly wasn't teacher material, and I was upset with myself for allowing them to do so. Hell, I loved being praised and admired! I thrived off of it! I was irrational and I didn't care. I was the worst type of person, and I didn't deserve anyone feeling bad for me or trying to sympathize.

"I'm a complete failure. I'm a liar, and a glory hound. I don't even realize when I'm hurting someone until someone shows me."

Dawn looked taken aback, then her face softened, "Ash…" she started, and then trailed off. Dawn stood and I looked down.

Suddenly there were a pair of arms around me and Dawn pulled herself close against me in a tight hug.

"I'm so, so very sorry, Ash," she held me for a moment before continuing, "you're one of the best people I've ever met. You care about people and you don't take advantage of them. I've never heard you tell a lie, maybe you exaggerate a little, or on very rare occasions you embellish the truth, but never lie. You get caught up in yourself and forget about others, but you mean well. Pidgoet was an mistake. So was May. Mistakes can be fixed."

"Dawn, you don't under-"

"Ash, mistakes can be fixed," Dawn cut in, her voice becoming firm, "but not if you sit around feeling sorry for yourself. If you just keep moping around you'll end up hurting everyone around you. Friends don't like seeing other friends upset. You need to learn to read body language, but you're not a liar, and you are not a failure."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, she didn't let me go and I soaked in what she said. Maybe she was right. Maybe I could fix my mistake with Pidgeot if I found it again. Maybe May would forgive me for bringing up a sore subject. Maybe I wasn't as bad a guy as I thought I was. Maybe it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself. It was a lot of maybes, but Dawn was usually right as far as this stuff went.

"Thanks, Dawn. I needed that," I said softly and returned her embrace.

"You're welcome. I hate seeing you upset, it sucks. And I'm sorry for earlier today." 

"Apology accepted."

The front door opened and Brock walked through looking weary but satisfied. Dawn waved him over and Brock announced that we now had enough supplies to get us through the week. We agreed that Dawn should participate in her Contest before I challenged the gym, and after that we'd be back on the road.

"By the way, you'll never guess who we ran into today," Dawn told Brock as we started to walk towards our rooms.

"Who?"

Dawn knocked on door number nine, which was opened a moment later.

"Yeah?" May asked as she poked her head out.

"May?" Brock asked in surprise, before May threw herself at Brock and drew him into a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you again!" May exclaimed after they parted.

"You too, I heard you did great in the Contests."

"Eh, they weren't as fun without you guys there," May shrugged it off, "how's the love life?"

Brock's shoulders immediately slumped and his head drooped.

"That bad?" May asked as she patted him on the shoulder.

"None of the beautiful women understand me," Brock muttered pitifully.

"There, there… I'm sure that there's someone out there who gets you," May reassured.

The scene went on for several minutes, with Brock whimpering about how unfair it was and how he must've been cursed, and May giving reassurance and reminding him that she hadn't seen him around any Ghost Pokémon back in Hoenn, so he could throw the cursed theory out the window. Eventually Brock seemed to believe it, and May happily invited us into her room.

We talked about our journeys since we'd last seen each other, and how impressed we were with each other. I asked about Max and May assured me that he was doing well and that she'd just heard from him a week ago, the conversation drifted to reminiscing about our time in Hoenn. We regaled Dawn with stories from our travels, all of which she loved, especially the ones where I got myself into embarrassing situations. Dawn asked if May wanted to share any stories she had from Johto and we swapped stories back and forth for upwards of an hour.

"And then," May tried to regain her breath after a very intense fit of giggles, "Harvey falls from the rafters right into Blaziken's Flamethrower! He springs back up and starts shouting at the judges about procedure and proper Contest etiquette and how I should be disqualified because my Pokémon's attack hit a spectator, even though he was trying to interfere with the match, and notices that his ridiculous hat's on fire! So he screams like a little girl and starts running around in circles screaming for someone to put it out!" May rolled onto her back, besieged by another fit of giggles. Dawn was already lying on her side, thrown into hysterics by the picture May was painting, and Brock and I were laughing heartily.

"But… but the best part…" May started as she tried to regain her composure, "was when my opponent's Mudkip soaked him with a Water Gun, then he starts shrieking about how his outfit was ruined and how we'll both be paying for a new one, then security finally shows up and hauls him out, still shrieking mind you. It must've taken at six guys to pick him up; he was thrashing around so much!" May finished, to a fresh round of laughter.

"Hey Ash, you haven't shared anything. You've got to have some good stories from Kanto, tell us one!" Dawn demanded with a grin.

I refused at first, only to have Brock and May support her.

"Okay, I give. There was this one time when I just started my career as a Trainer, and I had just met this redheaded girl named Misty, now she's upset with me because her bike was destroyed, through no fault of my own."

"The way I heard it was that Pikachu destroyed her bike," May cut in.

"Pika pi."

"I was a victim of circumstance," I said and held my hands up, fingers spread, "anyway, for whatever reason, she's following me and blaming me for her bike being destroyed. Totally not my fault, by the way. And we're walking through a forest, and a Caterpie drops on her shoulder. She's a tough girl though, right? Likes climbing mountains and crawling through caves instead of dressing up and gossiping? Has a mean right hook? You think she's just gonna brush it off, right? No, she screams bloody murder, almost deafens me, decks the poor Caterpie halfway through the forest, and starts freaking out about how she hates bugs. I laugh at her and then she punches me! Almost broke my jaw!"

By now Dawn was back into hysterics and May had tears in her eyes.

"You mean to tell me that the great Ash Ketchum got beat up by a girl?" May asked.

"Oh yeah, it happened all the time, you should've seen when she really got mad!" Brock replied.

"Okay, I've got one that tops that," May began, "for a very short period of time I traveled alone over in Johto, I wanted some company so I let Eevee out and we were just walking down the trail minding our own business, when this guy comes crashing down out of a tree…"

After another hour of stories we all promised to spend more time together tomorrow, said goodnight, and went to our separate rooms.

"It was good to see May again," Brock said from the other bed.

"Yeah, I was worried about her. Oh! By the way, I was told to give this to you earlier today," I said, and handed him the note that Samantha had given me.

"What's this? A phone number?" Brock asked as he looked at the paper.

"That's Suzi Yuki's number, she wants you to call her sometime," I explained, and could almost see Brock's face light up from the other side of the room.

"Really?" He exclaimed, "That's great! Thanks so much, Ash!"

"No problem."

As I laid in the darkness and tried to sleep I thought about the time that we had all spent together. Not once was Drew's name brought up, and May never mentioned anything that happened between the two of them while they were in Johto. She seemed to have really enjoyed herself, and I could tell that Dawn and Brock had fun. She was older now, more mature, it showed in the way she talked, and for as proud of her and happy for her as I was, I couldn't help but miss the old May a bit. She thought things through now, which was great and an important skill, especially for a Coordinator, but it also meant that she wouldn't be as likely to do something on the spur of the moment. Some of my best memories with her happened because we decided to be spontaneous; we wanted to check out that haunted house in the middle of the night, so we did. We wanted to go swimming even though it'd hurt our schedule, so we talked Max and Brock into it and we went swimming.

I thought about the time she fell off a cliff in the Valley of Steel. She was naive and reckless back then, walking too close to the edge and not keeping her balance, now she'd probably be the one pulling me out of the gorge. Now that she was more seasoned she probably had her own bag of tricks, which was good, because if she decided to tag along we might need to call upon those tricks. I really hoped she wanted to come with us, it was nice seeing her again and she was fun to travel with. Maybe I'd be able to ask her tomorrow?

Tomorrow. What did we have planned for tomorrow? Nothing that I knew of, the gym was closed for maintenance and the Contest didn't start until the next day. Maybe we could spend the day wandering around? Maybe could check out the area around the city, there were supposed to be some rare Pokémon, and it'd be good training for May and Dawn.

My thoughts drifted to Pidgeot, I still felt horrible about what happened, but was careful to not to wallow in self-pity. If I encountered it again in my travels I'd apologize and ask for forgiveness, I'd explain that I was wrong to make a promise I couldn't keep, and that I never would've made it if I knew I'd forget it, and I'd pray that it could forgive me. I thought about what I would do in its place, and came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to forgive me. Even if it didn't, I could at least put what I learned from this into practice and make sure that I never hurt anyone else like that again.

Maybe tomorrow I'd be able to talk with May privately, and maybe she'd want to talk about why she was so touchy about Drew. If she didn't want to I wouldn't pry, but I'd be sure to let her know that I was always open if she changed her mind.

For a while I pondered what could've happened, I thought about hundreds of scenarios, each less likely than the last before finally telling myself that if I was meant to know, I'd find out. Whatever it was, I just hoped that May hadn't been hurt. I wanted to protect her, to guard her from the injustices of the world, and I'd feel horrible if I hadn't been able to. It's a lesson that everyone has to learn, but when the world gets sharp and tries to cut you down to size, it's much easier to make it through when you have friends to help you up.

**There's chapter three, I've been up for way too long working on this. I only proofread this once, and I don't really care if there're typos right now, but I probably will after I get some sleep. It's very possible that there'll be some major editing done in the future, but for now enjoy. There're some references to songs by Train, although I can't list all of them off the top of my head and I'm pretty sure that a few slipped in by accident, I was listening to them a lot while I wrote this. There'll also be a deleted scene below, so keep reading if you're interested in that.**

**Major thanks goes out to Sailor Fayth 09 for you and your review of my story. It reminded me that this was still sitting around on my PC and had people waiting on it. **

**Hope you all enjoyed it and that you'll stick around for the next installment, which'll be up sometime between next week and the end of time.**

**DELETED SCENE **

**I think I owe a bit of an explanation for this one. You see, whenever I write, I'm either well rested and can focus like a laser on what I'm doing… or I've been up for over twenty-four hours and have moved well into loopy territory. I wrote the entire chapter while I was in the latter condition. I'm still in the latter condition. I was sitting at my desk trying to squeeze out at least another two hundred words, but I had no idea what the hell I was going to type. And all of a sudden Rainbow Dash's and Pinkie Pie's lines from Over a Barrel came to mind. I figured, 'why not?' and ran wild with the idea. So here you are; I hope you enjoy the slightly loopy alternate ending.**

Tomorrow. What did we have planned for tomorrow? Nothing that I knew of, the gym was closed for maintenance and the Contest didn't start until the next day. Maybe we could spend the day wandering around? Maybe could check out the area around the city, there were supposed to be some rare Pokémon, and it'd be good training for May and Dawn.

"Psst! Pinkie Pie, are you asleep yet?"

What in the world was that? Someone was in our room, or more specifically, to someones; Pinkie Pie and someone else.

"No, are you asleep yet?"

I laid in bed and held my breath, whoever these two were, they were close by, it almost sounded like they were between Brock's bed and mine. What where they doing here and why? Who could've even gotten into the room? We didn't search, but Brock and I would've noticed two other people.

"If I were sleeping, how could I have asked you if you were asleep?"

Team Rocket maybe? Maybe they fired Jessie and James and found people who're actually competent? If it was Team Rocket, I wasn't about to sit there and let them plot or chat or whatever they were doing any longer.

"Oh yeah!"

I flung my hand towards the nightstand and flicked on the light.

"Woah! Who's this dude?"

"What happenend?"

My jaw dropped. I was looking at the two not-quite Ponyta from the TV show I had glimpsed earlier today.

"Ash? Why's the light on?" Brock asked wearily. And then he saw the creatures. And for the first time in all of our years of knowing each other, I saw him open his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of chocolate brown. It was like looking through a window into his very soul, a tortured soul who longed for love but was rejected, a kind soul who simply wanted happiness, not just for himself, but for everyone in the world. I heard the angels themselves begin to weep as I stared at his eyes, currently much more interesting than the strange creatures I was currently sharing a room with. I tried to form words, but my brain had ceased to function in the presence of Brock's beautiful, beautiful eyes.

"Pinkie, how in the hoof did we end up here?" I heard one of the faux-Ponyta ask the other, but could not tear my eyes from Brock's angelic brown orbs, from my peripheral vision however, I could see that it was the sky-blue creature with wings and a rainbow mane and tail.

"I dunno, Dashie, but it sure looks different. I think these things are called 'humans,' too bad Lyra's not here, she'd love this."

"Brock… your… your eyes… they're incredible." I drawled.

Suddenly the pink Ponyta-esque creature was in my face, blocking my view of Brock's lovely eyes. I tried to look around her but to no avail, she moved as I did and continued to block my vision.

"Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie, this is Rainbow Dash, we're ponies from Equestria! We don't really know how we got here, wherever here is, but it looks fun! I've seen places like this before and creatures like you before but you look much flatter than the ones I usually see! Oooh! Did you get flattened by a steamroller? Or maybe you had something really heavy fall on you? Did that happen? It would probably be painful, I sure hope that didn't happen, by the way, wanna have a party?"

My god. It's as if she didn't need air.

"Where in the hoof are we?" The pony with the rainbow mane, Rainbow Dash, asked again, more forcefully.

"You're in our world, it's called the Pokémon world. Not like Equestria at all, but I'm so glad you two are here!" Brock explained from his side of the room. I didn't understand a word of what he said but at this point I didn't really know if I wanted to.

"Oooh! The Pokémon world! Hear that Dashie? We're in a whole new world!" Pinkie Pie squealed.

"But how do we get back to our world?" Rainbow Dash asked in a panicky sort of tone.

"Well it'd require a massive amount of pressure on the Fourth Wall, I'm not sure how you two got here, but we should probably get you back to your own universe before ours ceases to exist, I've done extensive research on the subject, and from what I've learned, Sudden Universe Implosion is the most common result of Universe Hopping," Brock said academically.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"We're ponies. You're… whatever you are, we don't mix." Rainbow Dash replied in an annoyed tone.

"Exactly!" Pinkie chimed in, "And we need to get back to our universe before your universe goes 'pop!' or maybe it'd be more like 'crack!' it could go either way, really."

"No, seriously, what the hell is goi-CRACK!

The world around me disappeared, all I could see was white, the two ponies, and Brock who had now, much to my sorrow and despair, closed his eyes again.

"Whoopsie…" Pinkie chuckled nervously.

"Our universe is gone, isn't it?"

"Yep. Very gone."

"Well," Rainbow Dash started, "this is awkward."

**Don't ask me where my mind goes when I'm extremely tired, because I don't know. Although I suspect it finds its way somewhere warm and sunny and relaxes for a few hours at a time, because I always feel well rested whenever it returns. Anyway, as stated above, this is a deleted scene, it has no impact on the actual story, I just felt that it was too entertaining not to share. In accordance with FF rules it does not get its own story or chapter.**


End file.
